“A specialist team created to crackdown on bad practice in the Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) claims market has helped tackle more than 200 rogue firms and is being strengthened to monitor even more companies.”

“In December 2012, alongside the new European Regulation on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters1, the European Commission released its proposal for a new Insolvency Regulation which is put forward to amend the current European Regulation on insolvency proceedings2 adopted on 29 May 2000.”

“In this highly publicised case, the Administrative Court has come up with some firm criteria for the scope of the Convention’s protective reach for UK citizens abroad. The judgment is also something of a body blow for those who are looking to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms for a wider human rights umbrella.”

“In a hearing of potential landmark significance, the Court of Appeal has given permission to the defendant in Probert v Moore [2012] EWHC 2324 (QB) to appeal against a finding that a 13 year old girl was not guilty of contributory negligence when struck by a car on an unlit country lane.”

“On 21 December 2012, Sir Andrew Morritt, then Chancellor of the High Court, handed down judgment in Phillips & Goddard v Francis & Francis [2012] EWHC 3650 (Ch), a case which has dramatic ramifications for residential landlords and managing agents. The state of the legislation and its most recent judicial interpretation will see landlords bogged down in consultations and applications for dispensation, and at risk of being unable to recover legitimate expenditure. ”

“The decision is of significance, because it is the first strike out of a fraudulent/exaggerated claim following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Summers v Fairclough Homes Limited [2012] 1 WLR 2004. Summers is authority for the proposition that under CPR 3.4(2) the court has power to strike out a statement of case on the ground that it is an abuse of process at any stage in the proceedings, including – but in very exceptional circumstances – at the end of a trial.”

“The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) has published a landmark document setting out professional standards for cosmetic practice, addressing the widespread lack of regulation of all aspects of the industry.”

“Public authorities often have cause to consider whether to treat requests for information as vexatious (section 14 of FOIA) or manifestly unreasonable (regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIR). Precise definitions of those terms are difficult to pin down. They are not supplied by legislation. There is no binding authority from appellate courts or tribunals on their meaning in the information rights context. The Information Commissioner’s guidance is long-standing, but First-Tier Tribunals vary in the extent to which they use that guidance.”